Behavior and conservation

The ability of tropical forest birds to persist in fragmented landscapes depends in part on gap-crossing and dispersal ability, and this is important for planning networks of protected areas. Unlike temperate breeding birds, little is known about how habitat fragmentation in tropical birds affects key demographic measures like reproductive success and survival. Migration within the tropics makes conservation especially challenging because a weak link in the chain, for instance, loss of wintering or stopover habitat, could threaten populations that are otherwise well-protected. Climate change is expected to eliminate habitats of range-restricted species, such as high-elevation birds, and trigger interspecific competition as species shift their ranges. For tropical lowland birds, population demographics are forecast to be negatively impacted by more frequent severe droughts. The extent to which tropical birds can adapt to conservation threats through rapid behavioral plasticity versus slow micro-evolution will likely determine their fate in the coming decades.